You don't need to hit the gym 5 days a week. That will lead to over training & as you're just beginning keep it to 3 days a week. An example mon/wed/fri, tues/thurs/sat ect so be realistic with how you plan & make it part of your routine, don't just fit it in as & when. You are only making progress while you rest, the body needs down time. So a day in/off approach will serve you well.

In the meantime google mark rippetoe starting strength beginners program. Also goto YouTube & search Rippetoe squats, bench press ect to see how he shows how to perform the main lifts.

Please for the love of god don't use the smiths machine!!!!

I'm totally on board about how you wish to work on posture. I dropped a lot of weight & had a similar toros, I carried weight on m stomach while I was heavy to.

Here's my log (the last few pages are obviously up to date) & progress pics. All I have done is kept in basic the last few months & it had worked wonders for every aspect! Just so you can see the type of stuff I do but for now just need to learn the basic lifts. You could just use machines & dumbbells, that's your choice but barbell work is key.

"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Just scanned though your posts.... massive progress! Very inspiring man!

Thanks for the heads up on not over-training. This applies to most sports particularly running as well. However I cannot successfully hold anything down unless I do it every day. So for example with running I run every single day, with intensity, but only 2 miles. Giving me a nice and low weekly total of 14 miles of timed running (approx 20 miles / week including warm up jog to the park).

My new gym is open 7 days a week so I am hoping to go there every day (it's only a 1:30 minute run from door to door) but only for like 15 minutes per day. Literally just do one machine and go home. Because if I don't do something every day, I quit within a week as I have quite mild but real psychological disorders which destroy my organisational ability and make me fear or fail at everything I don't do on a daily basis.

Also if you're looking to gain muscle to much cardio is going to hinder this...

"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

Hey man, Mark Rippetoe is a wealth of knowledge, listen to veggie. Apart from the lifting how does your diet look? I'm also a raw vegan (811), and getting enough calories is pretty difficult. I quit doing all forms of cardio except sprints. I do sprints because I don't have access to weights, and I rely on parks for my workouts. On leg day I do jumping squats, lunges and sprints. When I can't walk straight, I know I've worked hard enough. But the point is that if you are taking in a bunch of extra calories to build muscle, but then you're just going and burning them all off doing cardio, then it's a bit counter productive. At the same time though if you enjoy running and it's your sport then keep doing it, but make sure you get enough calories.

Wow man, that sounds like a really great diet. I hear you on the prices. I can get 1000 calories from bananas for about $5. I can get 1000 calories from rice for almost nothing. I eat rice and lentils when I run out of, or don't have access to ripe fruit.

One thing I think veggiesquatch said already though is just to remember that it takes time. You're not going to look in the mirror in 6 months and think, "dang, I'm massive." If you are adding a rep or two every week somewhere in your routine then you can safely say that you are adding muscle to your body. I just say that becuase building muscle can be discouraging. It takes a lot of time, effort and when considering the gym membership and the extra calories you consume on a regular basis it's also expensive. At the same time though it's rewarding and healthy.

Yeah thanks for the advice. Yeah I'm not expecting any miracle muscle growth spirits. When I was at Uni about 6 years ago I wanted to "get big quick" so did push ups and chin ups and ate massive amounts of lambs hearts, liver, kidneys and chicken wings because they were super cheap from my butchers. Also ate multiple cans of tuna per day, guzzled milk and forced down isolate soy protein so get my protein to build muscle fast. All that happened was I got too lethargic to work out, constipation, acne, greasy skin, stomach pain, head aches and put on no noticeable mass after a year, in fact I looked like I got scrawnier.

This time round I'm gonna eat the righ stuff, do the work and not look in the mirror ever day because real muscle takes real time. Just gonna make it part of my life and forget about vanity.

I've been pretty consistent... I didn't manage my every day with splits, so I've been doing every other day full body. An update photo.... no amazing differences, but I reckon I've improved a tiny bit....

When I'm going to the gym I generally do 3 sets of between 8-12 depending on difficulty. But I feel like after the 3rd set, I could do at least 3 more sets at a lower weight to really work out.... So my question would be, does it make sense to carry on to 5 or 6 sets at a lower weight??

PS still 100% vegan. Been eating almost completely raw, mostly dates and bananas. Been going through a 5kg box of deglet noor dates every 4-5 days and blending up large amounts of spinach, a few dandy lion greens and eating a lot fo lettuce. I've been experimenting with trying to eat more fat (as recommended by a few of my friends) but it just doesn't work. After even one avocado I feel lethargic and bloated, and the next few days I get a breakout of spots. It sounds insane just from one avocado but I shit you not!!! So my ratios have been pretty consistently around 90/5/5

Let's have a look at the spilt you've been following & weight/sets/rep ranges

"Don't fall for that crap that people are peddling on the message boards, in magazines or on TV. Get your shit in order, and get your training in order. Start kicking ass, and take out the crap that doesn't matter" Jim Wendler

veggiesasquatch wrote:Let's have a look at the spilt you've been following & weight/sets/rep ranges

I didn't do that every day thing with a split that I was talking about in the end because it didn't really work. I just naturally fell into a rhythm of going every other day (or close to) and doing a full body workout.... seeded to work because I recover so insanely quickly.

Squats 35kg slow deep controlled squats (I can do 80kg like everyone else in the gym with bad form) x10 x2 sets but I skip squats if I'm training the next day running or cycling, which has meant I've skipped them a lot

More recently, planks around 45 seconds left middle right x2 sets each

That's about it. I suppose I should do deadlifts, which I sometimes do but I really hate them and always scrape my shins, once ending my workout because I was bleeding everywhere.

EDIT: I also don't do OH press because my lower back feels very uncomfortable in that position with my large lumbar curve and I feel twinges and don't want to mess my back up, so sort of scared of that one!!!

I'm also a huge convert to bodyweight training (although I built my frame using traditional bodybuilding). You don't need a gym, but you do need to train hard with progressive resistance for a long time. I still go back to traditional lifts on occasion and haven't lost a step. Did a bench press first time in months last week and maxed out at 350lb for 4 reps. No crazy structured chest day(s) anymore, just crazy one hand pushups and handstand pushups whenever I feel like it. Also still at 195lbs with 8%BF. Just saying gyms are highly overrated!

I do 10kg weighted dorsal raises... maybe that is the same thing? I'll try the cobra stuff too just to see - I've done them before but forgot about them.

I think there a lot of people who built their bodies in the gym and then maintain in the park, but I've yet to hear of anyone who has successfully got big just from body weight, not taking steroids or doing secret bench press.....